Our Story Begins: New and Selected Stories by Tobias Wolff - Book Review From Mike Sullivan

Our Story Begins: New and Selected Stories by Tobias Wolff

 - Book Review From Mike Sullivan

The Bottom Line

Our Story Begins says it all. Tobias Wolff captures our stories with his clear distinct voice. With his focused direction, a short story never says so much.

Here is the master of the genre blessing us once again with an incredible collection of stories. Twenty-one, the perfect hand, are formerly published favorites he has decided to revisit again; the 10 others are new, near perfect, captures of people in relation and conflict.

Pros

• Anything new from Wolff is an addition to our literary cannon
• Every word is sharp, every emotion blossomed, every sentence sincere
• This collection belongs with the works of Chekhov and Hemingway

Cons

• Some people just refuse to read short stories; Wolff can change that perspective.

Description

• Published by Knopf - March 2008
• 400 Pages
• 31 short stories in a masterwork collection: 21 classic works, 10 new stories
• Wolff probes universal subjects including love, passions, loss, family ties, marriage, identity, cultural divides, etc.
• Wolff captures people including single mothers, stranded sons, wounded friends, striving marriages, distant neighbors

Guide Review - 'Our Story Begins: New and Selected Stories' by Tobias Wolff - Book Review

Since I can't review all 31 stories in this three paragraph space, I'll cop out and just tell you to either buy this collection at your nearest book store or at least reserve it now at your nearest library. This is one of the top books of 2008.

Tobias Wolff is worthy to be mentioned among the greats of short story writing. Like Hemingway, his stories often begin in action, immediately capturing the attention. Like Chekhov, his endings break the flow of life and cast a reflection on our own weaknesses and strength. He has a fluid style and voice embedded in the rhythms of 21st American life. He's unobtrusive, yet knowing. He's streamlined in capturing every detail.

In reflecting on why he chose to revisit the first 21 stories in this collection, Wolff addresses the question of whether a story should be revised by an author later in life (he did tweak some of his most revered stories in this collection). Proud and humble, he says "...truth is that I have never regarded my stories as sacred texts." When his work is finished, there will be many who will.

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